


Falling Together

by Liritar



Series: Falling [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentioned MShep/Thane, Seriously? Bailey is ONLY paired with FemShep?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-04 23:07:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3095963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liritar/pseuds/Liritar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bailey wakes up with only vague memories of the night before. Only... he's not alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling Together

Bailey’s mind slowly surfaced from the depths of slumber. He kept his eyes shut, reluctant to let go of the comfort of true oblivion. He managed to keep himself in the haze of half-sleep for a few more minutes, until he realized his hand was numb. A moment later, he managed to deduce that that was because there was a head pillowed on his elbow.

He tensed suddenly, frantically trying to sort through the fragmented memories of the night before. There’d been the funeral. He remembered leaving with Kolyat. The boy’d been quiet, but obviously upset. A bar. Drinks. Far too many of those. And then… Oh. A kiss. A kiss that made everything go soft and hazy. He dimly remembered Shepard once saying something about how drell had a toxin in their skin that was mildly hallucinogenic to humans, and the Commander would know.

Drell really should be listed as a controlled substance. Bailey opened his eyes, and yes, that was Kolyat, on his stomach with his face pressed into the cavity of his elbow. He looked… more peaceful than he’d seen the kid in a long time.

He reached out, almost dreamily, to run his fingers against the dry, scaled skin of the kid’s head. Fuck. What the fuck had he been thinking? Kolyat looked up to him. And yeah, it had been the kid’s idea, but he should have… should have resisted, somehow. Been the voice of reason. Hell, he had kids about the boy’s age. He winced slightly. He’d been trying not to be too obviously a father figure, since Kolyat had just lost his, but this was a bit extreme. He’d… never dreamt that Kolyat felt like this.

The boy shifted in his sleep, murmuring almost inaudibly, and pressed against his side. Oh. He drew in a shaky breath and carefully curled his arm, slowly regaining feeling, around Kolyat’s back. They’d already come this far, and if the kid needed comforting… well, he wouldn’t turn him away.

He didn’t know how long they lay like that, Kolyat breathing softly and evenly, him alone with his thoughts. But eventually his companion’s eyes blinked open, two sets of lids fluttering as he woke. He gazed at him in silence for a moment, then flashed a weak smile. “Commander.”

Bailey winced. “If I’m out of uniform, you can call me Bailey,” he said gruffly. “Or Owen, even.”

Kolyat tasted the word in his mouth. “Owen.”

The sound of his name in those rough, gravelly tones made the older man tremble infinitesimally. “So, uh. Feeling better?”

The drell sat up and stretched, muscles playing along his lithe form. Bailey couldn’t stop himself from staring. “Yes, thank you,” he murmured, inner lids blinking as he gazed at the commander. He reached out hesitantly to touch his cheek, and Baily was yet again surprised out how soft the scaled skin was as Kolyat’s fingers slid down to his jaw. “You are the only one left who cares about me,” the young man said softly, leaning forwards until their lips touched.

Bailey pulled back swiftly. He needed his head to be clear for this. “That’s not true,” he protested. “Shepard—”

Kolyat’s expression hardened. “Shepard doesn’t know me,” he said forcefully, almost a growl. “I’m just all he has left of my father.” And that was the most bitterness Bailey had ever heard from the kid.

“Kolyat…”

The boy looked away. “I know, I’m being unreasonable. But… He knew him for what, a year? And was closer to my father than I ever was. It’s not fair.” A tear slowly tricked down the drell’s cheek.

“Hey.” He drew the boy into his arms, holding him tightly against his bare chest. “Shhh.” He didn’t really know what to say to comfort him, but damned if he wasn’t going to try. “You miss him. You’re allowed to. And, you know, he’s allowed to miss him, too.” He rubbed the boy’s back. “And yeah, Shepard did get a lot of your dad’s time, but… he came back for you. He stayed for you.” He pulled back to look searchingly into Kolyat’s eyes. “It was obvious from the first time I met your father that he loved you.”

The boy blinked with both sets of eyelids, tears welling up and sliding silently down his face. And then his arms were around Bailey’s neck, face pressing against his shoulder. Bailey just held him, letting him turn it all loose. He didn’t think the kid had really cried since Thane’s death.

Eventually Kolyat stilled. He didn’t move or speak for long enough that Bailey wondered if he’d fallen asleep in his arms, but then a scaled hand slides down his back, fingers gently exploring his skin. Then Kolyat raised his head, and his lips were on Bailey’s, and he wasn’t strong enough to resist, not this time. Not when it was so clearly what his boy needed. After a long, intense moment, his vision started to waver, edges blurring and twisting. That was… yeah. Interesting. He closed his eyes, blocking out the hallucinations, just focusing on the feeling of his drell’s lips on his own.

He hated to admit it, but he needed this just as much as Kolyat did. He’d been alone for too long. After the divorce, all he’d had was work, work, and more work. It never seemed to end. There certainly wasn’t time for him to find someone else, even if he’d wanted to. But this thing with Kolyat… that was different. It was the two of them, seeking comfort from, as Kolyat had said, the only other person who cared. It seemed as natural as breathing to slide his hands down the young man’s body, to kiss him until he was breathless, to move his lips down his neck and shoulder as his hands gripped his ass, pulling the boy tightly against him.

Kolyat gasped harshly, gripping his shoulders with wiry strength. “Please,” he murmured, even more husky than usual. “Gods, please…”

Bailey rolled, pinning the younger man beneath him. He opened his eyes to meet Kolyat’s; large and dark, and deep as the oceans his religion revered. Bailey’s vision was still a bit distorted, but the hazy, dreamlike quality it leant to everything was actually an enhancement. He could get used to feeling like this.

The boy surged upwards to kiss him ravenously, limbs becoming entwined around each other as they clutched to the other with desperate strength. There was no awkwardness, no fumbling; they just fit together as if they’d always been meant to do this.

When Kolyat arched against him, tossing his head back with a decadent moan of pure bliss, it was somehow the most stunning thing Bailey had ever seen. It was as if all his standards of beauty were being rewritten to orbit this young, inhuman man. “Kolyat,” he gasped, clinging to his self-control with all his strength as he moved within his lover. He wanted nothing more than to let go, to thrust forcefully into the younger man, to plunder his body with ruthless intensity. But this was about more than just what _he_ needed. Every moment of this was for Kolyat, and damned if he would forget that in his own pleasure. So he kept his pace slow, his motions as gentle as he could manage, eyes locked on the shifting lines of Kolyat’s face.

“Owen.” Kolyat’s voice conveyed so many things; need, pleasure, contentment… love? Bailey pushed the thought from his mind. That was foolishly premature. And most likely wishful thinking. He didn’t need to quantify this. What they had was enough, without trying to make it something deeper.

“Shh, Kolyat. I’ve got you.” Their lips met, pouring passion and reassurance between them, each moving fluidly against the other as ecstasy rose, boiling to an explosive climax, two voices mingling in cries of bliss.

He collapsed on the bed beside his young lover, finding it difficult to catch his breath. He’d never felt anything that intense. Kolyat was murmuring to himself, just below audibility, but the cadence suggested one of his prayers. Well, that was… flattering? It was hard to tell. Their eyes met, and the boy smiled. “Thank you, Owen.”

Bailey flushed in embarrassment. “You don’t have to thank me. I mean, I enjoyed it, too.”

“Well then.” Kolyat sounded amused. “I won’t.” He looked thoughtful. “Do you have anywhere to be today?”

“I’m due a day off. Here’s hoping…” Bailey broke off as, right on cue, his console beeped an incoming message. With a sigh, he got to his feet and stumbled over, still naked, and answered—voice only. “What?”

“Commander, we’ve got a situation here.”

He turned and shot a long suffering look at Kolyat, then sighed. “Be right there.” He moved over to his lover and kissed him—briefly, he didn’t need another dose of hallucinogenics before getting to work, then pulled his clothes on with ill-concealed annoyance. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, you can stay here if you want.”

“Go,” Kolyat said softly. “I’ll be fine.”

Giving the boy one last longing look, Bailey headed out the door to his next crisis.


End file.
